Collapsible lawn chair



H. R, RESAR COLLAPSIBLE LAWN CHAIR Jan. 11, 1966 Filed April 8, 1964 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. HERBERT RESAR Attorney Jan. 11, 1966 H. R.RESAR 3,228,724

COLLAPSIBLE LAWN CHAIR Filed April 8, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.HERBERT RESAR BY WW A Horn e y United States Patent M 2 1 Claims. ('01.297-45 This invention relates to collapsible furniture and moreparticularly to collapsible chairs.

In the prior art, the provision of collapsible chairs is well known, butthese chairs while of simple construction, have frequently beendifficult or awkward to assemble and when assembled, have not provencompletely stable or reliable because they have tended to collapsecompletely under weight.

One of the principal objects of the prior art chairs has been to providefacility of storage and transportation, hence their collapsibility.However, for the most part, their collapsible characteristics have beensuch that they are limited to collapse either in one plane or whencollapsed, extend through as about a main plane.

In the chair now provided, it is so constructed that it may be collapsedthrough at least two planes: one section meing movable through avertical and a horizontal plane and a second section having membersmovable laterally.

It is the main object of this present invention to pro vide improvedcollapsible furniture.

It is a further object of this present invention to provide an improvedcollapsible chair which is simple and economical to manufacture.

It is a further object of this present invention to provide acollapsible chair which will permit collapse of respective sectionsthrough different planes so that the chair may be more compactly storedor shipped;

In accordance with the present invention, the collapsible chaircomprises a seat portion including a pair of spaced apart rigid sidemembers, a flexible seat member secured to and extending between saidside members, said side members each including at least one downwardlyextending leg portion; a first bracing member secured to and extendingbetween said downwardly extending leg portions of said side members; anda second bracing member extending between and secured to a second pairof depending leg members, each of said second pair of depending legmembers being connected to a respective one of said side members inspaced apart relationship from said first mentioned leg portions, saidbracing members each comprising at least a pair of swivably mountedrigid half members extending inwardly toward the immediately opposeddepending leg member and a rigid connecting member hingedly connected tothe inner end of each of said bracing half members to restrain outwardmovement thereof.

This construction gives several advantages in storage, in transportationand stability of the assembled chair which will be more evident from thedescription and drawings in which a specific embodiment is described byway of illustration and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a chair in accordance with thepresent invention;

3,228,724 Patented Jan. 11, 1966 FIG. 2 is a perspective view taken fromone side of the chair of FIG. 1 in a partially collapsed condition;

FIG. 3 is a further perspective view of the chair illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2 in a completely collapsed condition.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, thechair comprises a seat and back portion generally indicated at 1 and 2respectively. The seat portion 1 in turn, comprises side members 3 and4, preferably tubular to reduce weight, which have at their forward endsthereof, downwardly turned leg portions 5 and 6 respectively. Stoppers 7and 8 are inserted in the ends of leg portions 5 and 6 to provide groundengaging means. As will be observed in FIG. 1, the side members 3 and 4are inclined downwardly toward the rear thereof and they terminate inmembers 9 and 10 respectively, again preferably tubular, each of whichprovides an integral rear leg and arm of the chair. The arm portions 11and 12 of members 9 and 10 are supported in spaced apart relationshipfrom their respective side members 3 and 4 by means of vertical supports13 and 14; arcuate members 15 and 16 are secured to the inner sides ofthe arm portions 11 and 12 adjacent to the point where the members 9 and10 turn downwardly into the leg portions 17 and 18 respectively. Betweenthe side members 3 and 4, a flexible seat portion 19 is secured in anyconventional manner although a particularly convenient arrangement is towrap the sides of a suitable length of material comprised of canvas,saran or the like, around the side members 3 and 4, and then stitchedinto position. It is particularly to be noted that no cross member isneeded to support the flexible seat 19. The ends of the downwardlyextending leg portions 17 and 18 of the members 9 and 10 are providedwith ground engaging stoppers 20 and 21 and the leg portions 17 and 18of the members 9 and 10 are secured to the side members 3 and 4respectively by means of brackets 22 and 23.

On the downwardly extending leg portions 5 and 6 of the side members 3and 4, respectively, brackets 24 and 25 are pivotably secured, and theyinclude inwardly extending flanges 26 and 27. The flange 26 carries apair of parallel bracing members 28 and 29 extending inwardly towardsthe opposed leg portion 6 whilst the other flange 27 carries a similarpair of parallel bracing members 30 and 31 extending towards the opposedleg portion 5. The inner ends of bracing members 28 and 29 are hingedlysecured to one side of a bracket 32 and the inner ends of the otherbracing members 3%) and 31 are hingedly secured to the other side of thebracket 32. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, thebracket 32 comprises an upper channel portion 33 presenting a wall 34 tothe front of the chair and a lower channel portion 35 having an outerwall 36, again facing forwardly. These two channel portions 33 and 35are connected by a web 37 and to facilitate bending, the wall 34 is cutaway as at 38 and 39 and the wall 36 is cut away as at 40 and 41. I

As will be observed in FIGS. 2 and 3, an arrangement similar to thatalready described for connecting the leg portions 5 and 6 is also usedto connect the downwardly extending leg portions 17 and 18 of themembers 9 and 10 respectively. A pair of brackets 42 and 43 arerotatably secured to the leg portions 17 and 18 respectively and thesebrackets 42 and 43 have flanges 44 and 45 respectively, from whichrigidly seoured tubular bracing members 46 and 47 extend inwardlytowards each other. A channel like bracket 48 is hingedly securedadjacent the inner ends of tubular members 46 and 47 and the bracket 48comprises top and bottom walls 49 and 50 respectively, spaced apart by aweb 51 which restrains the outward movement of the bracing members 46and 47 when they are rotated about the leg portions 17 and 18. Tofacilitate hinging, the web 51 is cut away as at 52 and 53. j e a Theback portion 2 comprises a lower and upper part denoted by 54-land 55respectively, the lower part 54 being constructed by a pair of spacedapart tubular side members 56 and 57, the lower ends of which are curvedforwardly to be hinged by means of pins 58 and 59 to the respectivetubular side members 3 and 4. Across and between the tubular sidemembers 56 and 57, a first back support panel 60 is secured which may bemade continuous with the flexible seat 19 though it will, of course, beunderstood that it may be provided as a separate panel. In either case,it is conveniently secured to the side members 56 and 57 in the manneralready described for the flexible seat 19. As shown in FIG. 2, the topend of the tubular side members 56 and 57 are cut away as at 61 and 62respectively to form projections '63 and 64 which, in the particularembodiment, provides support for the upper part 55 of the back portion2. This upper part 55 is constructed of a pair of spaced apart tubularside members 65 and 66 which are provided with caps or stoppers 67 and68 respectively on their upper ends. A separate back or head supportpanel 69 is secured between the side members 65 and 66 in the manneralready described for the back support panel 60. At the lower ends ofthe tubular side members 65-and 66, a pair of tubular projections ofreduced diameter 70 and 71 are rigidly secured and these are providedwith longitudinally extending slots 72 and 73. The lower. end of abracket 101 having a pair of opposed sides 74 and 75 disposed on eitherside of a tubular side member 56 is pivotally secured to the upper endthereof adjacent to the projection 63 by means of a pin 76 and theupperend of the bracket 101 is slidablysecured by a pin 77 which extendsthrough a slot 72 positioned in the tubular projection 70. A similararrangement connects the tubular side member 57 with the upper tubularmember 66, the side members 78 and 79.-of a corresponding bracket 102being slidably engaged at their upper ends by a pin 80 in the slot 73,whilst the lower end of the side members 78 and 79 are pivotably securedby a pin 81 extending through the side member 57. r v

Intermediate the ends of the upper side members 65 and 66, a pair ofbracing members 82 and 83 are hingedly secured in the manner illustratedin FIG. 2, by means of pins or rivets 84 and 85 respectively, and theinner ends of the members 82 and 83 are hingedly secured together bymeans of a bracket 86 havinga solid wall portion 87 which in thenormally asembled condition, faces downwardly.

The chair will be received initially as illustrated in FIG. 3 with thebracing members 28 and 29, 30 and 31 and also 46 and 47 broken inwardlyso that the'side. members 3 and 4 are pushed together; thebackmembers-56 and 57 and 65 and 66 will also be pushed together, but itwill be observed that the lower back portion 54 is also folded forwardby virtue of the hinging on the pins 67 and 68 and the upper backportion 55 will be folded backwards.

To open the chair, the side members 3 and 4 are pulled apart so that theseat portion 19 is tightened therebetween. The bracing members 28 and29, 30and 31 will swing outwardly towards the front and bracing members46 and 47 towards the rear of the seat 19. When the side members 3 and 4are fully extended, the respective bracing members will extendsubstantially normally from the leg members and 6 and 17 and 18m belocked in position and thereby restrained from further outward movementby thefront vertical walls 34 and 36 and the web 51. The lower backportion 54 is then pushed backwards moving hinged members 56 and 57about the pins 58 and 59 respectively, until the members 56 and 57engage in position with the arcuate brackets 15 and 16. The upper backportion 55 is raised at the same time as illustratrated in FIG. 2 and ispulled up to the full extent of the travel of the pins 77 and, in theslots 72 and 73 respectively, after which, the tubular projections 70and 71 on the upper members 65 and, 66 seat in the upper projections 63and 64 of the lower side members 56 and 57. The pins 77 and 80 will, ofcourse, during this motion slide up in the slots 72 and 73 and.a lockwill be effectively secured. Atthe same time, the bracing members 82 and83 extending between the side members 65 and 66 will be pushed upwardlyand secured in position by the lockingbracket 86.

To stow the chair, all that is necessary is to be reverse the aboveprocedure;

It will be seen from theabove description, that the structure providedin this present application provides a comfortable seat, there being notransverse bars to disturb the comfort of a person sitting upon thechair, and the weight of an individual sitting upon the chair will .tendto lock the various bracing members into firm enthat theembodimentdescribed is described by way of example only and many of themodifications to the structure will be obvious to those skilled in theart without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A collapsible chair comprising a seat portion including a pair ofspaced apart rigid side members, a flexible seat member secured to andextending between said side members, said side members each including atleast one downwardly extending leg portion; a first bracing'membersecured to and extending between said downwardly extending leg portionsof said side members; asecond bracing member extending between andsecured to a sechalf members extending inwardly toward the immediatelyopposed depending leg member and a rigid connecting member hingedlyconnected to the inner end, of each of said'bracing half members torestrain outward movement thereof; a back portion including spaced apartside members and-at least one flexible panel extending between saidspaced apart back side members, said back side members being hingedlysecured to corresponding side members of said seat portion, forward ofthe rear end thereof to move through a vertical plane, and stop meansmounted on said second pair of leg members and extending upwardtherefrom to restrain rearward movement of said back side members. V

2. A chair as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bracing members uponcollapse, each fold away from each other andeach includes a solidvertical wall portion to restrain outward movement of said bracinghalf'me'mbers.

3. A chair as claimed in claim 1 wherein said half members each compriseupper and lower rigid members each being hingedly secured to saidconnecting member, and wherein said connecting member includes upper andlower channel members having substantially solid 0utcured to said upperside half member and including an extension adapted to engage the rearsurface of said upper side half member.

5. A chair as claimed in claim 1 including a back portion having anupper and lower part each comprising a pair of side members, the sidesof the upper part being hingedly secured to the corresponding sides ofthe lower part, means for locking said side members in position, eachpart having a flexible panel extending between and secured to saidspaced apart respective side members.

6. A chair as claimed in claim 5 wherein the outer ends of a pair ofbracing members are hingedly secured to the side members of the upperpart and the inner ends of said bracing members are hingedly secured toa bracket having a solid wall portion which in the normally assembledcondition, faces downwardly.

7. A chair as claimed in claim 5 wherein the means for locking aid backside members in position comprises a projection on the upper end of thelower back side member engageable with the rear surface of the lower endof the upper back side member, a bracket including opposed membersdisposed one on either side of said upper and lower back side members,said brackets having lower ends pivotably secured to the upper ends ofthe respective lower side member and having upper ends slidably securedto the lower end of the adjacent back side member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 633,012 9/1899Kiddet al 297350 953,962 4/1910 Lane 557 1,039,986 10/1912 Morritt 5571,105,234 7/1914 Andrews 29744 1,389,682 9/1921 Melniker 557 1,567,78612/1925 Brandt 557 1,595,129 8/1926 Wagner 557 1,675,375 7/ 1928Netschert 29745 2,397,322 3/ 1946 McArthur 29742 3,026,142 3/ 1962Holloway 29735 1 FOREIGN PATENTS 404,063 10/ 1909 France.

1,052,935 9/1953 France.

16,623 7/1911 Great Britain. 424,573 10/1946 Italy. 456,768 4/ 1950Italy.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

1. A COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR COMPRISING A SEAT PORTION INCLUDING A PAIR OFSPACED APART RIGID SIDE MEMBERS, A FLEXIBLE SEAT MEMBER SECURED TO ANDEXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SIDE MEMBERS, SAID SIDE MEMBERS EACH INCLUDING ATLEAST ONE DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING LEG PORTION; A FIRST BRACING MEMBERSECURED TO AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING LEG PORTIONSOF SAID SIDE MEMBERS; A SECOND BRACING MEMBER EXTENDING BETWEEN ANDSECURED TO A SECOND PAIR OF DEPENDING LEG MEMBERS, EACH OF SAID SECONDPAIR OF DEPENDING LEG MEMBERS BEING CONNECTED TO A RESPECTIVE ONE OFSAID SIDE MEMBERS INTERMEDIATE THE LENGTH OF SAID LEG MEMBERS IN SPACEDAPART RELATIONSHIP FROM SAID FIRST MENTIONED LEG PORTIONS, SAID BRACINGMEMBERS EACH COMPRISING AT LEAST A PAIR OF SWIVABLY MOUNTED RIGID HALFMEMBERS EXTENDING INWARDLY TOWARD THE IMMEDIATELY OPPOSED DEPENDING LEGMEMBER AND A RIGID CONNECTING MEMBER HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO THE INNER ENDOF EACH OF SAID BRACING HALF MEMBERS TO RESTRAIN OUTWARD MOVEMENTTHEREOF; A BACK PORTION INCLUDING SPACED APART SIDE MEMBERS AND AT LEASTONE FLEXIBLE PANEL EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SPACED APART BACK SIDEMEMBERS, SAID BACK SIDE MEMBERS BEING HINGEDLY SECURED TO CORRESPONDINGSIDE MEMBERS OF SAID SEAT PORTION, FORWARD OF THE REAR END THEREOF TOMOVE THROUGH A VERTICAL PLANE, AND STOP MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID SECONDPAIR OF LEG MEMBERS AND EXTENDING UPWARD THEREFROM TO RESTRAIN REARWARDMOVEMENT OF SAID BACK SIDE MEMBERS.